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Turkish President Erdogan: Belgium Is Center for PKK and Coup Plotters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the International Istanbul Law Congress, Istanbul, Turkey, October 17. His main opposition party say his proposed constitutional changes are "generally reasonable."Murad Sezer/REUTERS

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday accused Belgium of being an important center for supporters of both the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the cleric Ankara says orchestrated a failed July coup.

Erdogan, speaking to reporters in Ankara before leaving on an official visit to Pakistan, also said he has showed German officials documentary proof that an organization in Germany was collecting money for the PKK militants.

The PKK, which has carried out a three-decade armed insurgency in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, is considered a terrorist group by Europe, the United States and Turkey. Ankara says its Western allies are not doing enough to fight the group.